Grain-door for railway-cars.



No. 817.983. v PATENTED APR,.1'7, 1906. E. J. NOBLETT.

GRAIN DOOR FOR RAILWAY CARS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.25. 1905.

3 SHELHTS-SHEET 1.

No. 817,983. PATENTED APR.1'7, 1906v E. J. NOBLBTT.

GRAIN DOOR FOR RAILWAY CARS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.Z5.1905.

8 SHEETS-SHEET 2 No. 817,983. PATENTED APR. 17, 1906. E. J. NOBLETT. GRAIN DOOR FOR RAILWAY CARS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.25.1905.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

sentences eon nanwar eane.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented April 17, 1906.

Application filed March 25,1905. Serial No. 251.967.

T0 (ZZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, EDWARD J. NOBLETT, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the cit of Chicago, county of Cook, and State of llinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Grain-Doors for Railway-Cars; and I do hereby declare that the followin is a full, clear, and exact description of t e same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification,

- This invention relates more particularly to interior grain-doors for railway-ears. H6161 tofore it has frequently been found difficult to operate grain-doors after the loaded car has reached its destination, owing to the grain jamming or settling about the door by the constant vibration of the car when in motion. in consequence such doors are usually short-lived, rarely serving for more than two or three trips before destroyed from the efforts of operators to open the same.

The object of this invention is to afford a cheap, simple, and durable grain-door of the class described so constructed as not likely to'jam and adapted when not in use to be foldedup against the roof of the car out of door-opening,

the way of freight of any other kind it may be desired to ship.

The invention consists in the matters hereinafter described, and more fully pointed out and defined in the appended claims.

in the drawings, Figure 1 1s a fra mentary side elevation of a car, showing t e graindoor closed. Fi 2 is a section taken on line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmen tary horizontal section in detail, illustrating the ide-pins for the door. Fig. 4 isan inner ace View of thesame. Fig. 5 is'a section taken on line 55 of Fig. 1. Fig. 6 is a similar view showing the door open. Fig. 7 is an enlarged inner face view of the guides. Fig. 8 is an edge view of the same. Figs. 9 and 10 are respectively a fragmentary inner face view and an enlarged horizontal section of a construction embodying my invention. Figs. 11, 12, and 13 are fragmentary details of the same.

As shown in the drawings, A indicates a box-car havin in the side thereof the "usual aving horizontal ways a a above and below the same, respectively, on the outer side, in which slides the horizontally-movable door A on the outside of the car, as is usual. Within the car and rigidly secured on the inner face of the ambs a and a and set back slightly from the inner edge of the same, as shown in Fig. 2, are vertical uides a, each of which comprises a strip of suitable thickness rabbeted on its inner edge to afford a guideway, the outer side of which is afforded by the inner edges of the doorjamb, to near the top of the door, at which point the guideway inclines inwardly and upwardly and at the top oi the doorway extends outwardly to or near the jamb, affording. a chamber. Extending upwardly into said upper extension or chamber of the grids-groove is a 1everselycurved hook or gera, affording a seat behind the same, as shown in Fig. 7. For convenience of construction a metallic casting a may be set into the face ofthe guide at its upper end, in which the inclined guide-groove and upper chamber are provided. Said castin may be secured upon the guide in any suita le manner.

Positioned within the car and slidable vertically in said guide-grooves is the door, comprising, as shown, two horizontal and approximately equal sections B and B, which may be constructed of any suitable material and in any desired manner, but the inner or adjacent, edges of which are hinged together by means of the strap-hinges hupon the outer side thereof, to permit said door to fold or break inwardly. The outer face of said doorsections slides against the inner edges of the jamb, and on the said outer face, near the lower edge of the lower section and near the upper edge of the upper section, are rigidly secured metallic plates b and 6 on the outer ends of each of which and projecting beyond and in alinement with the end of the door are the cylindric guide-pins 6 which, as shown, are shorter than the depth of the rabbet and serve to hold the'bottom and the top of the door to the guides. 0n the inner edge of each of the guide-stri s a near the bottom of thesame, is provide a guide or cleat a, the upper end of which extends to a point below.

the hinges connecting the door-sections when the door is closed and which, as shown, en ages over the transverse batten a at each en of the lower door-section. As shown, said lower door-section is provided near-its middle, on the inner side thereof, with battens a", and hinged at its upper edge in a complemental aperture in bottom of said lower door-section is a small chute-door B", provided with a suitable latch in at its lower edge, which acts to hold the same normally Y closed.

The operation is as follows: The doors are of course closed before the car is filled with grain and occupy the position shown in Fi 1, with the outer face of the door at its ends engaged against the inner face of the jamb and with the door B in the lower section closed. inasmuch as the door fits closely between the guides there is little opportunity to jam in the guide-groove, and should grain find its way therein it would be of slight importance, owing to the fact that the guide-pins b are smaller in size than the guide-grooves and of less length than the depth of said grooves. Thus when the door is forced upwardly the grain therein passes readily below said guide-pins, presenting no obstruction. When the car-door A is unsealed and opened, the grain-chute is con- ,nected with the aperture through the lower section and the door B is opened, permitting the grain in the central part of the car to flow outwardly through said chute-door until the middle part of the car is nearly empty. After sufficient amount of grain has been removed from the middle of the car to avoid waste in opening the grain-door the operators push the door-sections B and B upwardly until the guide-pins b at the upper edge of the upper door-section reach the upper end of the guide-grooves, at which point the door breaks inwardly at its middle, as shown in Fig. 6, and as the lower section is pushed upwardly to its highest point the guide-pins of the upper sections move inwardly and engage over the fingers or hooks a, as shown in Figs. 6 and 7. @ne, or more latches C are supported in the roof of the car in position to engage the joint of the door-sections, as shown in Fig. 6, when the door is fully opened, and engaging beneath said joint the door is held supported in its fully-open position by the joint action oi the rigid fingers or hooks a and said latches, which may be provided also, if preferred, in position to engage beneath each end of the lower door-section near the guides.'

in the construction illustrated in lFi s. 9 to 13, inclusive, the jambs D are each ra beted on the inner side, as shown at d, and astrap 61 of metal or other suitable material is screwed or otherwise rigidly secured on the face of said jamb, projecting over said rabbe't, and affords the inner wall of a guide-groove, in which slide the ide pins or projections 5 as before described? At the top of'the jamb, on the inner face thereof, is secured a bracket or casting E, which projects into the ear and "is screwed or bolte in place and affords a cove continuous with the groove in the amb and at the top of which is provided an upwardly-directed curved finger a for the purpose before described. As shown, the strap 01 is made wider at the bottom and pro emcee jects farther into the groove and affords a guide d for the door to prevent the joint breaking too soon when the'door is operated. This construction islimportant, as it in no manner reduces the space available in the car for freight,

I claim as my invention 1. A grain-door comprising door-sections hinged horizontally to fold inwardly, guidepins at opposite edges of adjacent sections, extending longitudinally beyond the ends of the door, a vertical guide-strip adapted to re ceive'said ins at each side the door and catches at t e top of the opening one located at the guide-strip and the other secured to engage the fold of the doorand support the door in its open position.

2. A grain-door comprising two centrally and horizontally hinged sections adapted to break inwardly, cylindric guide projections at the top of the upper and the bottom of the lower sections extending in alinement with and beyond the ends of the sections, vertically-grooved guides at each end of the opening in which said'guide projections engage, an upwardly and outwardly curved finger at the upper end of each guide adapted to engage the guide projections of the upper sections and a catch or latch adapted to engage below the lower sections holding the door folded horizontally and fully opened.

3. The combination with a car and the door jarnbs thereof, of a vertically sliding door bearing at its ends against the inner faces of said jambs and hinged longitudinally near its middle to break inwardly, a grooved guide-strip secured on the inner face of each jamb, projections on each door-section remote from the hinges engaging in the guides, one or more latches at the top of the car and an upwardly and outwardly curved finger at the top of the guide-strip adapted to engage the guide'projection of the upper door-section simultaneously with the engagementof said latch or latches beneath the folds of the lower section.

at. A device of the class described comprising a strip having a rabbeted edge, ada ted to afford together with the door-jambs o the car, a guide-groove, a metallic casting fitted to the upper end of said strip and provided with an inwardly and upwardly inclined groove registering at its lower end with the groove in said strip and enlarged at its upper end transversely, an inwardly and upwardly 1 directed finger projecting into the roove in said casting and affording a rigid catch, a horizontally-folding door adapted to slide in said groove, a guide pin at the upper corner of said door adapted to engage said finger, a guide-pin at t adapted to engage in said groove and a hook supported at the top of t e car adapted to engage door at its joint when folded and support it in a horizontal position.

e lower cornerof the door ment with the lower edge of the lower section and the upper edge of the upper section, a grooved guide engaging said projection and a rigid outwardly and upwardly curved catch at the upper end of the grooved guide adapted to engage the lpins of the upper door-section, a

' forming with the rabbet a wall of a guidelatch adaptet to engage beneath the folded sections and together withthe catch acting to su )port said door-sections in a horizontal position at the top of the door-opening and a vertical clcut on the inner face of each guide at the bottom thereof l1(lll)tl(l to hold the door in a vertical position when closed.

6. The combination with a car, of a graindoor comprising sections hinged horizontally to break inwardly, )ins projectin from the end of each section Tom the top of the up er and the bottom of the lower and adaptcd to engage in a grooved jamb, a plate on the jamb between which and the jamb the bottom of the door is held and means at the top of the car adapted to hold the door in its open position.

I i i l 7. The combination with a car having rabbeted door-j ambs, of a vertically-slidable door therein comprising horizontally-hinged sections, pins at the ends of the sections project ing into the rabbet, a hook at the top of the groove in each janib adapted to en age the pins on the upper section and a latdh in the car-roof adapted to' support the fold of the door in horizontal position.

8. The combination with a car having side doors of jambs therefor rabbeted on the inner edge, a plate secured on the inner side of each jamb projecting by the edge thereof and' groove, a vertically-sliding grain-door comprising a plurality of horizontally and inwardly folding hinged sections, pins on each end of the door-sections projecting into the grooves, a bracket at the top of each jamb, a finger thereon adapted to engage the pin on the top door-section and means on the carroof adapted to support the door horizontally when open.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto sub scribed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

EDVVARD J. XOBLETT.

Witnesses:

W. W. WITHENBURY, H. S. RUDD. 

